CAG nominee on BCCI Apex Council Alka Rehani Bhardwaj wants early meeting to discuss conflict of interest complaints

New Delhi: Alka Rehani Bhardwaj, the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) nominee to the BCCI Apex Council, has called for a meeting of the powerful body at the earliest to “discuss” multiple conflict of interest complaints filed by MPCA life member Sanjeev Gupta. [caption id=“attachment_4436641” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP.[/caption] In an e-mail addressed to BCCI CEO Rahul Johri on 13 January and marked to all office-bearers, Bhardwaj has asked for clarity on complaints filed by Gupta. “…I along with other Councillors, have received number of complaints from one Mr Sanjeev Gupta, pointing out to various violations by BCCI of the Honourable Supreme Court approved Constitution in August 2018,” she wrote in the e-mail which is in possession of PTI. In the past, Gupta had filed conflict of interest complaints against the likes of Rahul Dravid and the former Cricket Advisory Committee comprising Kapil Dev, Shantha Rangaswamy and Anshuman Gaekwad. Out of Gupta’s five complaints that Bhardwaj listed, one is against former MPCA secretary Milind Kanmadikar, who was appointed manager for the ongoing India A tour of New Zealand. Gupta alleges that he is under compulsory cooling-off period having served as MPCA office-bearer from 2012-2019. “In terms of BCCI Rule 8 and 15, there is no provision through which either BCCI AGM or BCCI Apex Council can delegate their powers to BCCI office-bearers. Thus, as requested on 7 January 2020, I again request for early convening of Apex Council meeting,” she wrote further. Since Sourav Ganguly took over the BCCI reins in October, the nine-member Apex Council has met only once – 30 November. As per the SC-approved BCCI constitution passed on 9 August, 2018, the council comprises BCCI office-bearers, two Indian Cricketers’ Association representatives and CAG nominee. “Request you, as per my earlier mails dated 20 December 2019 and 3 January 2020, to share and also upload the Annual Reports for last 3 years on BCCI Website, in compliance with Rule 37(5) & (6) of the Constitution. “You are also requested to share the Agenda, Explanatory notes, Minutes of Apex Council meeting of 30 November 2019 and also Governing Council meeting, last held,” she added.